


Scream

by sinnamon_cookie



Category: Suikoden IV, Suikoden Series (Video Games)
Genre: Familial Love, Gen, Other, a little angsty, rune of punishment, the pain of true rune bearer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29712618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinnamon_cookie/pseuds/sinnamon_cookie
Summary: Lazlo couldn't run away from his cruel fate as the bearer of the Rune of Punishment, and Flare, also affected by the rune, was burdened by the fact that she couldn't do anything about it. In the end, Lazlo invited her to release the stress in a way that baffled her and the whole ship.
Relationships: Frienship - Relationship, SIbling - Relationship





	Scream

Darkness had blanketed the sky. The crescent moon up above shared its radiant light to the earth dwellers, stars were blinking, but their light was veiled by spreads of gray clouds. On the sea, the Dauntless rocked gently. A young boy, with hazelnut hair and eyes as blue as the ocean, rested his hands on the ship’s railing. He couldn’t sleep. Before he went up the deck, he tried to shut his eyes many times, turning left and right on his bed to find a position that could make him comfortable enough to feel sleepy, but to no avail. And the room started to suffocate him, so he decided to go outside to take some fresh air.

The cursed rune on his left hand started glowing. “Please… stop…”

He covered both of his ears. His head was in great pain as he heard those voices – voices of the ghosts that kept him awake every night. The pain was too unbearable as he gave up and fell on his knees. Tears and sweat flowed on his pale face.

“Lazlo…? Lazlo, are you alright!?”

Someone ran to him and tried to help him stand on his feet. Lazlo was just too weak to respond, he just moaned in pain. From his blurring eyes, he could see a young woman with a gentle, concerned face and hair as radiant as the moon. More and more people came to his aid as he closed his eyes and lost his consciousness. 

*

Flare opened the door to Lazlo’s room and closed it off quietly. On the bed, Lazlo opened his eyes and turned his head to see the visitor. Flare smiled to him, and he smiled back faintly in response. When he was trying to get up, Flare rushed over to help him.

“I thought the doctor told you not to move too much?” asked her softly while holding and resting his back against the wall.

“It’s alright. I’m okay, now…” Lazlo replied with a low, quivering voice. “Thank you, for helping me earlier.”

She didn’t reply, but gave him the most reassuring smile she could. She then sat on a stool beside his bed. “The whole crew was going mad when they knew you collapsed, you know. Even Setsu was freaking out!”

Lazlo couldn’t help but to laugh at Flare’s story. “He was? If only I could see that.”

Flare chuckled. It’s been a while since she spent some time with him because they were busy hustling here and there as important figures onboard. Not that she had to always be with him or anything, and certainly not because she wanted to be with him all the time, but she was always worried for him. She somehow felt the need to take care of him, like a sister should to her younger brother. She could see it from the boy’s pair of eyes—the pain he concealed and repressed within him. She knew that Lazlo wasn’t a kind of person who like to tell stories or share secrets with others, let alone sharing his burden. How she wished he could just let her know what he was feeling and what made him stared into the distance every so often...

“Lazlo, is there –“

“I heard them sometimes…”

Flare looked up. “What is it?”

“Screaming… of the past bearers…” Lazlo continued in a pained voice.

“What do you mean?”

Lazlo tightened his grip to the blanket as if trying to hold back. He took a deep breath. “After I bore the Rune of Punishment, I keep hearing these strange voices and screaming coming from inside my head... and with that, come an aching pain that hurt my head terribly… I could bear it at times, but if this keeps happening, I...”

Flare bit her lips. _Is that the rune’s doing? It is said that the rune’s very nature is that it absorbs the bearer’s life… little by little… Is it absorbing his now?_

Flare put her hands on Lazlo’s and tightly squeezed it. “I, I have no idea that you’re in such pain,” her chest was throbbing as the words spilled from her mouth. She tried to hold her tears so badly that her throat was starting to hurt.

Lazlo pat the back of Flare’s hand gently. “It’s alright, Flare. Please, don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“It must be very painful…” Her voice quivered. “If only I could do something to ease it...”

“Hey, you being here and being a kind listener, it already helps a lot.”

Flare smiled in response, but she couldn’t turn her eyes from Lazlo’s left hand -- the one in which the symbol of the rune resided. There were so many things in her mind. She couldn’t stop wondering why fate has to be so cruel; choosing her mother and a young boy upon millions of people in the world to carry this deathly burden, this curse. Why them? They didn’t deserve any of this pain. She was well aware that cursing the fate was a wrong thing to do; after accepting the fate of her mother’s death, she promised herself to stay strong and move on so that she could protect her people as the Princess of Obel. However, after all the incidents driven and caused by the cursed rune; all the wars and endless conflicts, she couldn’t help but to end up cursing the fate again.

Lazlo, who felt that something was off, leaned his body to shorten the distance between them. “Flare, you okay?”

“Sorry, I’m fine,” Flare was snapped from her train of thoughts and looked up to Lazlo. He, on one hand, kept staring at her in concern.

“What?” She asked as she realized he was staring at her. He seemed to be thinking about something, and the fact that he didn’t say anything made Flare feel a little bit awkward. “Is, is there something on my face?”

Suddenly, Lazlo woke up from his bed, with his hand still clasped her hand tightly.

“Lazlo, what are you doing? You shouldn’t move your body just yet!”

But Lazlo didn’t bother. Instead, he pulled her and ran out of his room, dragging her. The baffled princess was struggling to stop him as he dragged her along, passing several of their comrades who were just as confused. Lazlo didn’t pay attention to their puzzled look, though, and by only wearing his plain black shirts and shorts, kept running with his bare feet. The wooden floor felt icy beneath them.

They finally reached the upper deck. The sky was no longer dark, but bright light blue with thin white clouds spread all over its surface. Nature greeted them with fresh breeze and scent of the ocean. Flare was still managing her breath and ready to reprimand Lazlo, but before she had the chance, Lazlo lifted both of his hands to his face and screamed.

“DAMN YOU RUNE OF PUNISHMENT!!! YOU PARASITE!!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE, YOU HEAR!!! DAMN YOU TO THE DEEPEST PART OF HELL!!!!”

Flare, taken aback by his sudden yell, just stood there in awe. Never since her first meeting with him had she seen him screaming, let alone raising an angry voice. It was the first time he ever let loose like that. All of the crews who were on the deck stopped doing their activities and turned to the very source of the loud, yet familiar voice. Some furrowed their eyebrows, some exchanged glances, some wondered what has gotten into their leader who was famous for his poise and reserved attitude.

Lazlo panted and looked up to the sky. He just screamed to basically a passive entity residing within himself which he had no idea if it could even hear him, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t expect any reply anyway. His lips curved into a relieved smile as he had released all of the feelings he had suppressed out of his chest for good.

“I always wanted to do that,” he turned his head to Flare, grinning. His face looked bright and happy like that of a child -- a kind of face he had never showed up to anyone. “Want to try?”

Flare saw it as an invitation that she couldn’t refuse. She gripped the railing tightly and cleared her throat.

“MOTHER, I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!! THANK YOU, FOR EVERYTHING, FOR SAVING ME AND FATHER! I LOVE YOU!! AND CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!”

Without her realizing, fresh tears were flowing on both of her cheeks. She indeed missed her mother that much.

Lazlo put his hand around her shoulder as she rested her head on his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Flare couldn’t believe herself. She was supposed to be the one who made Lazlo feel better, but instead, he was the one who did for her. She apologized to him in between her sobs, but Lazlo just shook his head and let out a heartfelt laugh. He was indeed content. He didn’t plan it at all – he just couldn’t stand watching Flare looked gloom and troubled, he had to do something. He always wanted to scream like that, but was too embarassed to do it so suddenly and alone, so when the occassion demanded, he instantly made it happen. He was content that it worked. He was relieved that even though he did it in a ridiculous way, he could finally release his stress and Flare’s, too.

Lazlo couldn’t remove the curse from his body, so he would lose his life eventually and faster than average people. The screaming of the past bearers might echo again inside his head and hurt him. But, when it happened againw, when he couldn’t hold anything anymore, he could always just scream and let all of his pain and burden fly, blown by the wind and swallowed by the ocean.


End file.
